Maryville, Northwest join to celebrate rebranding of Mozingo

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The Northwest Missouri State University and Maryville communities are invited to experience recent improvements and numerous other amenities offered at the city’s Mozingo Lake Recreation Park during a grand reopening celebration.

The park, located east or Maryville off of Highway 46, will host the event from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday, April 6. The city of Maryville hopes the celebration will attract new and returning visitors to enjoy the lake atmosphere and park facilities, while promoting rebranding efforts and ongoing improvements.

“It’s an opportunity to become reacquainted with one of the largest and best parks in the state of Missouri,” Maryville Mayor Glenn Jonagan said.

Northwest students may travel to the celebration via a University bus that will leave from the University Police station once every hour between 11:30 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. Buses will bring guests back to the Northwest campus every hour with the final trip leaving Mozingo at 7 p.m.

Maryville native and country artist Mitch Gallagher will headline the event, performing a free concert. Gal­lagher’s debut, self-titled EP went to No. 46 on the iTunes Top 100 Country Albums earlier this year. Gallagher, who moved to Nashville in 2011 to pursue his dream of becoming a music recording artist, attends Middle Tennessee State University while playing at various venues to promote his music.

Tyler Folkerts, a Northwest student and aspiring musician, will perform an acoustic opening act for Gallagher.

Other events throughout the day include a 5k run/walk, fishing tournament, inflatables, kid-friendly activities, park tours, a sidewalk sale with Mozingo merchandise and a live radio remote featuring Northwest’s X106. Hy-Vee will provide grilled food, side dishes, barbecue and refreshments for purchase during the event.

“Mozingo is such a unique and beautiful park,” Maryville Assistant City Manager Ryan Heiland said. “With 3,000 acres, there is so much to see and do and experience. This event is a great opportunity to come out and enjoy the park, enjoy some good food and listen to some great music.”

Mozingo Lake, which is known for its quality fishing and golf course, has worked with Northwest students throughout the academic year to improve its overall marketing strategy and operational structure. Changes include a new logo, advertising campaign and website at www.mozingolake.com. While some changes are subtle, the overall campaign will add numerous improvements and updates to the park, located east or Maryville off of Highway 46, over time.

Over the course of the fall trimester, 12 Northwest students, under the advisement of Jacquie Lamer, instructor of mass media, were tasked with rebranding the 3,000-acre park and uniting all of its amenities as one brand. The students gathered research and data, designed advertising campaigns and logos, and designed a central website for the park, which they presented to a group of park staff and community leaders in December. This spring, a new class of students, also under Lamer’s advisement, are working with city officials to implement the rebranding goals for the park.

New signs leading to and within the park are among changes aimed at enhancing the usabil­ity of the park. Other noticeable improvements to the park include a remodeled Mozingo Golf clubhouse with a new bar, shop and seating.

“Many of the changes that are happening at Mozingo won’t necessarily be visible,” Heiland said. “A lot of the focus is on increasing efficiency of operations while maintaining quality. We are looking toward the future and growing the amenities of Mozingo Lake Recreation Park in a responsible manner.”

Recently, a new online reservation system was created for the lakeside cabins and RV sites. A total of five cabins, 20 RV sites and 13 equestrian RV sites are now available for reservation. These sites will assist in attracting potential visitors from beyond the Maryville area. In addition, golf tee times may be reserved through the website and mobile phones.

“Our goal is to continue to provide a great park for local residents to enjoy and that they are proud to share with many regional visitors, family and friends,” Heiland said.